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American Reunion: Unrated
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Universal Pictures Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (2nd September 2012). |
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The Film
 Founded by Carl Laemmle in 1912 (as the Universal Film and Manufacturing Company), Universal Pictures commemorates its centennial this year. In celebration, the studio—one of the oldest continually-operating filmmaking companies in the world—has seen fit to honor their founder and his company’s 100th anniversary with a new logo and, of undoubtedly more interest to the readership of this site, a rather large catalog push on Blu-ray. This newfound interest in moving the studios’ massive back-catalog into the 21st century via the Blu-ray format includes several new-to-HD-disc releases (a select handful of which have received extensive, expensive, and much talked about 4K restorations) and a considerable amount of re-issues gussied up in special 100th Anniversary packaging. (Basically, slipcovers.) But, not every Universal film on Blu-ray—even the one’s debuting in HD for the first time ever in 2012—can make a showing (re-issued or otherwise) as part of the actual centennial line. Only select titles get that particular honor. Certainly, certain films chosen to be part of the line make perfect sense to me—there’s no moment of hesitation when I see “To Kill A Mockingbird” (1962), one of the greatest American movies ever made (based on one of the greatest American novels ever written), in a Universal 100th Anniversary case. Nor, really, is there a question for most of the older films chosen as part of the line. A large majority of the re-issues come from a place of easy-to-understand logic. However, some of the more modern films on the list do give pause. For example, “American Pie” (1999), which both debuted alongside its two theatrical sequels—“American Pie 2” (2001) and “American Wedding” (2003)—in March of this year as a plain-Jane release, and then again a few months later, in June, as an honest-to-goodness slipcovered centennial disc. A movie where a guy f**ks a pie is one of the highlights of the company catalog—really? That just seems strange. Then again, it kinda doesn’t. In context, it makes about as much sense as that edition of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, blasphemous as that may sound. The gross and gooey “American Pie” exploded into theaters in 1999, a year some consider the greatest in modern movie history. (With the release of “American Beauty”, “Being John Malkovich”, “Boys Don’t Cry”, “Election”, “Fight Club”, “The Green Mile”, “The Insider”, “The Iron Giant”, “Magnolia”, “The Matrix”, “Office Space”, “The Sixth Sense”, “Three Kings”, “Toy Story 2”, “The Virgin Suicides” and several other acclaimed masterpieces and/or box office successes (and still other generally decent films) in the same year, it’s hard to disagree that ’99 was, at the very least, one of the best years for film ever.) The simple teen sex comedy—a tale of five friends (or four friends, and some sociopath named Steve Stifler, who just hangs around them being an annoying a**hole) as they try to lose their virginity before high school graduation—wasn’t particularly original, nor do I think it’s a spectacular film worthy of that much praise. But I like it, for what it is. And so did a lot of people. The film grossed $235 million worldwide upon release, off of a meager $11 million dollar budget—quite a feat, but doubly so considering the "R" rating. Not that I’m suggesting box office receipts in anyway reflect a films quality—sometimes they do, many times they don’t—but because of that box office, the film is important to the company history. And rightfully should be spotlighted. A massive, massive success for Universal, “American Pie” spawned two theatrical follow-ups of, depending who you ask, varying quality. Personally, I find all three to be about equally entertaining—if admittedly, both sequels are tonally quite detached from the first (not to mention, focused on an entirely different central character; although an ensemble piece, it is Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), not Jim (Jason Biggs) who is the protagonist in the initial “Pie”. Only later did the franchise’s focus switch to the latter character. Watch them again if you don’t agree.) The “trilogy” ended in 2003 with “American Wedding”, which saw Jim and his beloved fiery redheaded band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) tie the knot and walk off into adulthood hand-in-hand, most of their stupid friends in tow. “Wedding” was a nice cap to the saga of sexualized adolescent idiocy for most of the cast and characters of the theatrical films, but the movie business being what it is, the franchise name lived on in the world of direct-to-video. To date, four quite awful DTV “Pies” have been flung in our faces. Now, 13 years after the seminal outing, and nearly a decade since the last time the franchise actually played in cinemas—perhaps in an attempt to restore some credibility to a franchise name dulled by direct-to-video crud—comes “American Reunion”. With the return to the proper megaplex, comes the return of the original characters and cast. Jim and Michelle, Kev, Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Oz (Chris Klein), Stifler (Sean William Scott), Vicky (Tara Reid), Heather (Mena Suvari), Jim’s Dad (Eugene Levy), Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge)… all back. As are a few secondary and tertiary characters and cast members including Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) and MILF Guy #2 himself, John Cho, who absolutely steals the show with frequent, brief, but always-hilarious one-liners and asides. Clearly, “Reunion” lives up to its name with all the characters coming back. But what of the actual reunion? And the story and the plot, for that matter? Well, first off, yes, as you might have heard, East Great Falls’ class of ’99 is celebrating its 13-year reunion in the film. (As silly as that may sound—most classes would logically pick a nice round decade to gather, no doubt—I will say that I actually know of a few local instances where smaller classes have either combined with later years or delayed for the odd date that works for the closer-knit group; either way, it doesn’t matter—most of the characters address the 13-year issue in a wink-wink way). What’s happened to the five guys (and their girls) in the years since we saw them last? Quite a lot, obviously: as expected Jim and Michelle have settled into married life quite well, and have a kid—although the little tyke has killed their sex life. Kev is married too, although not to Vicky as expected, who’s off living the bohemian lifestyle in New York. No, Kevin’s a Real Househusband of Orange County, basically; but a happy one for the most part, even if he feels a bit emasculated at times, he loves his wife. At some point in the past, Oz broke it off, amicably, with Heather—who settled into a nice life in East Great Falls as a general practitioner, and found herself a new man—and moved to L.A., where he lives with girlfriend Mia (Katrina Bowden), a blonde-bombshell party-girl model. He found his way into sports news broadcasting, and even appeared on a “Dancing with the Stars”-type show a few seasons back. Stifler, well… he’s pushing papers at a dead-end temp job, and wants nothing more than to be back in high school or college, where he can relive his glory days. And Finch? No one’s seen or heard from him in a while, although rumor has it he’s traveled around living a life that the Most Interesting Man in the World would be envious of. His riding into town on a KTM motorcycle in a leather jacket seems to confirm these rumors, but… With everyone back in town, things return to the way they were when the guys were teens and twenty-somethings. Only, they aren’t teens and twenty-somethings anymore. They’re solidly in their thirties; grown ups, dammit! Doesn’t matter. Awkwardness ensues. Hilarity too. Jim receives advice on his troubled sex life from his dear ol’ dad—now a widower—even if it seems Dad is as lost as he is these days. Stifler moves back into his mom’s house and throws a massive party, to which everyone’s invited. This includes Oz and Mia, and Heather and her beau, Dr. Ron (Jay Harrington)—who likes to be called “Dron”, leading to one of my favorite payoffs in the entire “Pie” series—who all enter into some sort of creepy almost foursome without the sex, each attracted to the others partner but skirting the obvious until it comes to a head. Finch, finally over Stifler’s Mom, falls a bit for someone his own age, an ugly-duckling-turned-swan alumna named Selena (Dania Ramirez). And Kev… well, Kevin’s just glad to be back with the guys in some way. Stepping in for the series’ previous directors, of which there were many, (and writer/creator Adam Herz) are “Harold & Kumar” helmers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who share co-directing and writing credit. Despite the new blood, this feels just like old “Pie”. Essentially, new bakers; same recipe and ingredients. And that’s a good thing, really. Each member of the cast steps back into the roles without missing a beat. And “Reunion” has the same mix of gross-out gags with madcap sexual mishaps and sweet sentimentality, which somehow works despite the presence of the other two aspects, as the original entries. The writer/director duo proves more than capable, bringing the right kind of familiar-yet-different approach that this belated sequel really needed. Sure, the film isn’t perfect. None of the “Pie” films are. Some of the jokes fall flat. Some gags go on too long. Certain subplots and plot revelations are seemingly telegraphed in. And as nice as it is to see everyone again—and it really, weirdly, is (why are so many of these actors not in more things?)—the constant cascade of characters and their intertwining storylines is sometimes messy, leaving a few with little to do. Once again, Kev (and actor Thomas Ian Nicholas) has little reason to be here; he’s slightly less irrelevant than he was in “American Wedding”, but only barely. And, sadly, the wonderful Alyson Hannigan is barely in the movie at all, sidelined so that Jim can travel down a wormhole of awful, awkward, immature weirdness in one of the many listless and unneeded subplots. A shame. Still, so much of the movies does work, and works surprisingly well. Especially considering the time gap that’s passed since the last film. Then again, perhaps it’s because of that gap, and how “Reunion” plays up (and prays on) the nostalgia factor, that it is as palatable as it is. In a way, “Reunion” is kind of a brilliant “Bizarro World” version of the first “American Pie”. It’s like a reboot, remake, sequel and totally new thing all in one. Scenes recall and reference earlier material, but Hurwitz and Schlossberg twist expectations just enough to make something completely different. Reversals—role and otherwise—are everywhere. For example, “Reunion” opens with a scene in which Jim tries to masturbate only to be embarrassingly interrupted. It plays with audience expectations, taking the original scenario but updating and tweaking it so it’s a carefully bookmarked website (hidden under a bookmark menu labeled “Sports Stuff”) rather than scrambled “Skinemax” cable, and it’s his 3-year-old son, not his mom, who walks in on him, and well... again, awkwardness ensues. Always, in “American Pie”, awkwardness ensues. Those are the rules. And “Reunion” abides by them (to a fault). Another scene is a almost a shot for shot remake of Stifler’s parties in both “American Pie” and “American Pie 2”, only essentially viewed through the lens of “The Twilight Zone” (1959-1964). Steve expects the same rowdy, rambunctious teens only to find prim, proper and frankly exhausted thirty-something’s who just want to reminisce and escape the kids for a few hours, not party until they have a heart attack. One of the best things that the film does is play with these reversals. More often than not, it’s Jim who ends up lecturing his widowed Dad about love, and sex, and dating, and relationships, rather than the other way around. The characters have grown in many ways since we’ve seen them last, but in many other ways they haven’t changed at all. Still stunted, still awkward. In the original “Pie”, the guys were teens trying desperately to move into adulthood, and failing miserably because they were so out of their element. In “Reunion”, they’re adults trying to reclaim some of their youth, but failing miserably, because… they’re so completely out of their element. Mostly, it’s the world around them that has changed. It’s a faster paced, more interconnected, more informed place than it was in ’99—and the crap you did in high school can come back to bite you in the ass, in more ways than one, no matter how hard you try to make it disappear. Because its now a world where that webcam video of you with the foreign exchange student can never be erased from existence, because thousands of Youtubers will just upload it again and again. So that anyone can watch it anywhere, from their in iPhone, in HD.
Video
When the first three films in the “American Pie” franchise finally made their respective high-def debuts on the Blu-ray format earlier this year, each arrived with a problematic video transfer. Collectively, the “trilogy” caused quite the kafuffle amongst videophiles. Sure, some problems were more universally applicable than others; some decidely more detrimental to the viewing experience and to the ultimate enjoyment of each film. Each film suffered from several inborn source issues dating back to each dated HD master. The first three “Pies” suffer from intermittent issues that keep them from high-def greatness—erratic edge ringing, nasty noise reduction, crazy changes in contrast from scene to scene, and even errant encoding errors, including artifacts, banding, and poorly compressed grain. The three films are far less detailed than they ought to be too. Admittedly, issues and all, each film still bests its DVD counterpart. , But none of them look as good as they probably could (assuming a fresh transfer from a new master, minted from 35mm elements). Luckily, almost none of the above applies to the fourth entry in the “Pie” series. “American Reunion” turns up on Blu-ray looking much better than any of its predecessors. In that way, it’s kinda like the fat kid in high school who comes to the reunion looking all fit and trim. Grain is intact, retaining a nice filmic texture without becoming obtrusive to the enjoyment of the film. The encode is flawless, and the source is pristine, showing no signs of obvious manipulation—no evidence of artificial sharpening, unnecessary noise reduction, contrast boosting or other such egregious issues. Still, the 1.85:1 widescreen 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 high definition presentation isn’t without its own set of inherited obstacles that will keep “Reunion” from being the next go-to “reference disc” on your self. Certainly detail is impressive, but not always outright staggering. In fact, the disc is ever exactly sharp. Fine object detail often shines through, but a slight, glossy, softness creeps into several sequences. And while the black level is satisfyingly deep, some slight crush appears in a handful of scenes. And although contrast is more consistent, and colors more stable than any of the other films, that’s not to say that “Reunion” is natural in either regard. Actually, contrast runs rather hot, with blooming whites quite prevalent in exteriors. And the colors are of the warmer shade—as a result, skin tones often appear quite flushed. Mind you, these are not necessarily problems. Rather, simply, the inherent reasons why Universal’s faithful transfer—which accurately the reflects the deliberate style choices of directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg and their DP Daryn Okada—isn’t what some might call picture-window-perfect. So, “Reunion”, isn’t the sharpest, most visually arresting presentation on the market. Not by any measure, really. And yet, there’s nothing wrong with the Blu-ray transfer, and Universal has certainly done the fourth theatrical feature in the franchise justice in terms of its HD presentation. This is a very nice looking disc; just not “eye candy”. And, unlike the first three slices of “Pie”, which most certainly could look better, I think this is likely the best “Reunion” will ever look on the Blu-ray format.
Audio
Get ready to party like it’s 1999 all over again. The highlight of “Reunion’s” serviceable-to-more-than-acceptable English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (48kHz/24-bit) is easily the music. At times utterly hilarious, at others awesome, and sometimes even awful (and, in a few glorious instances, all three at once) the music selection is, in a few cases, the best joke of all. No, I don’t mean Lyle Workman’s workman-like score—which is utterly forgettable, as usual for the franchise (do any of the characters actually have leitmotifs? I’m generally curious, even if this is a rhetorical question, because I don’t think they do, but then again, I don’t remember any score from any of the three—now four—films). Nor do I mean that the use of more modern music, from the like LMFAO or that stupid hoe Nicki Minaj is in any way amusing. What I’m talking about is the almost unstoppable onslaught of 90's and millennial-cusp artists and songs—from stupid sh*t like Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” (freaking seriously) to stuff that I actually like, like Semisonic’s “Closing Time” and many more songs from Third Eye Blind, Lit, The Verve Pipe, James— whose “Laid” featured prominently in “Reunion’s” trailer—and others, round out of the, and I use this word lightly, “retro” portion of the soundtrack (a full rundown of all the songs featured in the film, click here). Eclectic choices in music aside, “Reunion” is a bit of an unassuming beast on Blu-ray, sonically at least. Dialogue is clear, and well prioritized. Fidelity is good. Surrounds reveal some mild crowd activity in the party scenes, without providing a truly enveloping atmosphere. Like most comedies, the film just isn’t a powerhouse in terms of sound. But the lossless track is fine all the same; perfectly suited for the material, it gets the job done. French DTS 5.1 and Spanish DTS 5.1 dubs are also available. Optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish are also included.
Extras
“American Reunion’s” sizable supplemental package will surely please fans. Universal serves up a worthwhile (if inconsistent) audio commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and montages galore, and a few featurettes; the Blu-ray exclusives amount to even more, including an imperfect and haphazardly paced video commentary, a large helping of extended and alternate takes, more featurettes, an interactive “Reunion Yearbook” feature, BD-LIVE connectivity and more. Better still, every single one of the extras is encoded in crisp high definition. And perhaps most notable of all—if only because it’s sort of insane, considering the Blu-ray is a but a few dollars more than the comparatively gimped DVD—this 2-disc combo pack offers up four—count ‘em, four—different ways to watch the film: Blu-ray, DVD and the choice between two different digital copy formats: iTunes or Ultraviolet. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY First, before discussing the extensive extras below, a note on the so-called "Unrated Version"—runtime 114-minutes and change—which is exclusive to home video. As you’d assume, the additional minute doesn’t amount to much. A few additional gross out gags and a longer cameo by “The Sherminator” (Chris Owen); that’s about it. A full examination of the two versions is available here. Available on either version of the film is a feature-length audio commentary with co-directors/writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The track is inconsistent, but informative and amusing all the same. The duo delves into a very by-the-numbers discussion on taking the reigns and revisiting the franchise some 13 years after the first film, and almost a decade since the last theatrical release featuring the original cast. They try to balance the information with humor, and do it half successfully. Not a bad track, but not a great one either. Of much discussion in the commentary is the fact that the original cut of “American Reunion” ran over two and a half hours. As insane at that might sound, especially considering the final product is nowhere near that length, consider this: it’s not unheard of for a film to run upwards of even 3 hours in assembly form (an assembly is an early-edit version, which usually includes alternate takes and many longer scenes), before some judicious editing calms the crazy certain directors might put on film. Lucky for us, home video gives a chance to see what ends up on the cutting room floor. We get that excised material spread over three subheadings: “Deleted Scenes”, “Extended Scenes”, and “Alternate Takes.” Don’t think for a second that any one of these 7 deleted scenes (1.85:1 1080p, 7 minutes 51 seconds, play all) included on this Blu-ray wasn’t rightfully cut from the final film—in fact, nearly all of it necessarily so; it’s mostly pure bloat, and its presence or absence has very little effect on the end product—but certainly the scenes are something worth checking out. They are: - "Jim comes home drunk" - "Heather and Mia" - "Oz ask Heather out" - "Stifler preps for party" - "Finch and Jess" - "Vicky’s new guy" - "Finch and Selena in bathroom stall" Of perhaps more interest are the equally extraneous (but even more watch-worthy) 13 extended scenes (1.85:1 1080p, 26 minutes 25 seconds) exclusive to the Blu-ray release, simply because it’s more—and more importantly, more of some of the best scenes in the film, including several featuring Jim’s Dad and the scene stealing John Cho. The 13 extensions are: - "Jim and Dad in bedroom" - "Stifler greets the guys" - "Jim’s kitchen scene" - "Nudity on the beach" - "Shit in the hair" - "Never have I ever…" - "Prateek/Stifler phone call" - "Jim’s Dad sequence" - "Jim’s Dad and Stifler’s Mom" - "Jim and Dad kitchen advice" - "MILF Guy #1 at the Reunion" - "MILF Guys" More Cho! More Neil Patrick Harris (who plays the host of the dancing competition Oz was on)! Yay! The collection of alternate takes (1.85:1 1080p, 3 minutes 53 seconds) are mostly just there for the curious, but similarly watchable, simply because so many of the alternate improvs come from two of the great scene-stealing highlights of the film. If there’s one thing made abundantly clear by the overall tone of the supplements it’s this: the cast and crew had an absolute blast making “Reunion”. The surprisingly tolerable gag reel (1080p, 3 minutes 42 seconds) is just another example of the amiable on-set atmosphere and general goofy tone of the whole affair. The “Out of Control Track” (HD) is a video commentary with the cast and crew, who interrupt the movie occasionally—popping up, walking out and just taking over the screen—in a poor man’s version of Warner’s Maximum Movie Mode. Hosted by Biggs and Sean William Scott, and featuring just about everyone else at some point, this track is a bit too light and definitely too sporadic to really pack that expected punch of what should be a high def-exclusive knockout. Universal still has a long way to go in the terms of video commentaries… but, hey, at least it isn’t the god-awful "U-Control" crap… “The ‘Reunion’ Reunion: Re-Launching the Series” (1.85:1 1080p, 10 minutes 32 seconds) is a by-the-numbers EPK featurette with co-directors/writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, Biggs, Scott and most of the other cast, as well as several crew members, talk about getting the gang back together for a new film more than a decade after the first one. The piece is promo-y and too short to really make an impact, but as a primer to the supplements, it works. Too bad it’s buried in the middle of the menu. “I honestly think Jason Biggs in one of the funniest beings to walk this Earth. I can’t get enough of him, so anything that comes out of his stupid face is comic gold for me”, says Eddie Kaye Thomas in a featurette titled “The Best of Biggs: Hangin’ with Jason B.” (1080p, 3 minutes 37 seconds), a puffy and fluffy send up to everyone’s favorite pie-fucker… excuse me, actor/executive producer. “I think Sean shitting in a cooler is one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever seen get shot.” That’s Eddie Kaye Thomas again, this time commenting in “Lake Bake” (1080p, 4 minutes 31 seconds), another short featurette. Producer Craig Perry, production designer Bill Arnold, and others talk about the waterfront location on which they filmed the beach scenes, and share a few anecdotes about the shoot. Next is “Dancing with the Oz” (1.85:1 1080p, 2 minutes 50 seconds), featurette is a look at the fictional “Celebrity Dance Off” TV show and the dance number Oz performed on it. Klein, choreographer Stephen Jones and costume designer Mona May all offer input in this featurette. “American Gonad-iators: The Fight Scene” (1080p, 4 minutes 13 seconds) looks at the film’s climactic fight sequence. In the featurette, the main cast, the director/writer duo and others talk about the ridiculousness of Biggs/Jim rolling around on the lawn in BDSM gear… and some other things. Eugene Levy and others show up to talk about the character arc of the heart, soul… and awesome awkwardness… of the “American Pie” franchise, Jim’s Dad, in the appropriately titled featurette, “Jim’s Dad” (1.85:1 1080p, 2 minutes 47 seconds). “I don’t know how it happened, but the older we’ve gotten, the less mature we’ve gotten”, says Biggs in the aptly titled featurette, “Ouch! My Balls!” (1080p, 1 minute 47 seconds). Yeah, so, apparently the boys took to nut-checking each other any chance they got. Cue montage! The “Reunion Yearbook” (HD) is an awkwardly implemented interactive gallery of clips and images from all of the “Pie” films… the theatrical one’s anyway. This bulky extra is broken-down by character, and presented as if were a two-page spread in a high school annual. Each page includes a worthwhile “where are they now” video piece, in which each actor discusses their character and their history with the franchise, as well as less noteworthy film clips from the original trilogy pre-packaged as montages and micro-vignettes designed to sell the other three films on Blu-ray. There are pages for: James “Jim” Levenstein - “Where are they now?” featurette (44 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: Dancing, Trombone Playing, Shaving” montage (1 minute 23 seconds). - “Activity: pleasuring himself” montage (1 minute 31 seconds). Kevin Myers - “Where are they now?” featurette (1 minute 7 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: the bachelor party” clip (30 seconds). Paul Finch - “Where are they now?” featurette (47 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: the bathroom break” clip (37 seconds). - “Activity: the art of Tantra” clip (40 seconds). Chris “Oz” Ostreicher - “Where are they now?” featurette (1 minute 20 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: Casanova” clip (23 seconds). - “Activity: Lacrosse” clip (27 seconds). Steve Stifler - “Where are they now?” featurette (1 minute 57 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment:” clip (41 seconds). - “Activity: teaching Jim to dance” clip (23 seconds). Michelle Flaherty-Levenstein - “Where are they now?” featurette (1 minute 3 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: the proposal” clip (33 seconds). - “Activity: teaching Jim to try new things” clip (32 seconds). Victoria “Vicky” Lathum - “Where are they now?” featurette (41 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: I’m coming” clip (30 seconds). Jeanine Stifler - “Where are they now?” featurette (57 seconds). - “Activity: younger men” clip (20 seconds). Heather - “Where are they now?” featurette (1 minute 27 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: the sexy call” clip (24 seconds). MILF Guy #2 - “Where are they now?” featurette (54 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: when you gotta go” clip (39 seconds). - “Activity: admiring older women” clip (33 seconds). Noah Levenstein - “Where are they now?” featurette (53 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: the wedding cake” >b>clip (32 seconds). - “Activity: parental advice” clip (35 seconds). Nadia - “Where are they now?” featurette (50 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: Sherminated” clip (34 seconds). - “Activity: watching Jim dance” clip (37 seconds). Jessica - “Where are they now?” featurette (1 minute 5 seconds). - “Most embarrassing moment: opposites attract?” clip (13 seconds). Finally, “American Reunion” includes Universal’s "MyScenes" bookmarking feature. Technically, the disc is BD-LIVE enabled, but there is no exclusive content available for the film at this time, nor will there ever be, I imagine. Universal also offers their usual "PocketBlu" app-snyc nonsense, which allows you to access the special features on the Blu-ray disc via a smartphone or laptop… why you want to do that rather then just use the disc, I have no idea. Upon startup, “Reunion” attendees are greeted with several bonus trailers for other Universal products including: - “Universal 100th” centennial celebration (1080p, 2 minutes 30 seconds). - The Blu-ray releases of first three “Pie” films (1080p, 2 minutes 9 seconds). - “Wanderlust” (1080p, 1 minutes 1 second) on Blu-ray. - A promo for the 25th anniversary of Discover Channel’s infamous “Shark Week” (1080i, 32 seconds). - “Anyway and Anywhere” (1080p, 1 minute 17 seconds). DISC TWO: DVD Like the Blu-ray, the second disc in this set—a full retail DVD-9—includes both the "Unrated" and "Theatrical" versions of the film via seamless branching. The disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and includes English Descriptive Video Service (DVS) 2.0, optional dubs in French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. The DVDs special features include a smaller serving of the Blu-ray’s full course—the filmmaker audio commentary, the deleted scenes, the gag reel, the “Jim’s Dad” featurette, the “Ouch my Balls!” montage, and the “‘Reunion’ Reunion” EPK making-of featurette all appear on the standard def disc.
Packaging
Universal Home Entertainment packages “American Reunion” as a two-disc, dual-format, release, featuring both a BD-50 and a DVD-9 in one of the new eco Elite keep cases that use less plastic but don’t have the horrible holes. Each disc features both the 113-minute "Theatrical Cut" and a 114-minute “Unrated” version. The Blu-ray is confirmed region free; the DVD is locked to region 1. The blue-spine cover and red-on-silver disc art are similar in design to the way the original trilogy was packaged on Blu-ray earlier this year, and “Reunion” should look perfectly inline with the others on your shelf. “Reunion” also includes two digital copies: one compatible with iTunes and another Ultraviolet version. Both downloadable/streamable options are redeemed by a code printed on a slip of paper housed on the inside of the case. The digital copies must be claimed by April 30, 2015.
Overall
Following up a successful film (let alone three films; for, as problematic as the original “American Pie” trilogy was at times, each one still made mountains of money and has its fans, myself included) is no easy task—especially more than a decade on. Yet, somehow, “American Reunion” proves to be an entertaining and enjoyable two hours, if undoubtedly more so for long time fans of the franchise (and, in particular, the three original films). Certainly, “Reunion” is not perfect—none of the “Pie” films are. But, I liked it all the same. “Reunion’s” bizarre but frequent reverse mirroring of the first movie makes for some truly excellent, very funny, scenes, and definitely leaves a nice nostalgic impression. The Blu-ray features a faithful and largely admirable high def video transfer, a satisfying DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a considerable collection of worthwhile extras. Recommended.
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